Don Juan by Moliere, Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, CT, USA

Bhavesh Patel (Sganarelle), Nick Westrate (Don Juan)
Don Juan

Having seen prior Westport Country Playhouse performances throughout the years directed by the talented Director David Kennedy (The Understudy,Appropriate, The Invisible Hand, And a Nightingale Sang, Nora) we knew his performance of Don Juan by Molière, A World Premiere and Translation and Adaptation by Brendan Pelsue, would push the dramatic envelope and it did. We saw the play on opening night, Saturday, November 9, 2019.

Suzy Jane Hunt (Done Elvira), Nick Westrate (Don Juan)
Don Juan

This version of the play takes French playwright Moliere’s (1622-1673) "classic comic satire" about the ultimate playboy, the legendary Don Juan, and sets it in modern-day. Director David Kennedy notes, "When I originally proposed that we produce "Don Juan," I thought 2019 was the perfect time to revive this acerbically comic tale of an undisciplined, thin-skinned narcissist who blazes a path of destruction through the world, upending institutions and social norms, destabilizing everything, offending all decency and morality, and leaving a trail of wreckage in his wake. I can’t ever imagine why." With an intro like that, we could not wait for the play to begin!

Carson Elrod (Pierrot), Ariana Venturi (Charlotte)
Don Juan

Don Juan as legend has it, was a "love ’em and leave ’em type" of guy, whose self-designated mission in life was to seduce as many women as possible. With an eye on his latest romantic conquest of the hour, minute, or perhaps even a few seconds, this blatant narcissist’s focus in life is on his continual pursuit of, and loving the chase, of the instant enthrallment and excitement of being with someone new, before he is off again in search of other lovelies to ravish, leaving a bevy of beauties behind without a second’s preponderance of the destruction and ruin he has made of their lives. He is equalitarian in his pursuit; it makes no difference to him if his conquest is of noble birth or is a peasant, young or old, he loves them all equally, if albeit only fleetingly. Don Juan is engaging, charming, and completely destructive, caring nothing about the people he destroys, the messes that he leaves behind or about his total lack of respect and disregard for the people in his life, including his verbally abused long-suffering servant Sganarelleand his wealthy father Don Louis.

Claudia Logan (Mathurine, Nick Westrate (Don Juan),
Ariana Venturi (Charlotte)
Don Juan

To Don Juan’s way of thinking, he is young and handsome so he is entitled to act accordingly, he should be careless, it is his right to be reckless to the point of bordering on constant destruction without a care to his future or to the state of his soul. He believes that he can live a life of debauchery and can repent in his old age when the hour of death is near. Thus, is the premise of his erroneous plan that leads Don Juan and the audience on an unlikely journey that defies the bounds of decency with his actions until its thunderous conclusion.

Philip Goodwin (Beggar), Nick Westrate (Don Juan)
Don Juan

The play runtime: Act 1: 109 minutes, Act 2:42 minutes.

Until next time, keep enjoying and supporting the arts!

Jordan Bellow (Don Carlos), Bobby Roman (Don Alonzo)
Don Juan

Cast:

Bhavesh Patel (Sganarelle), Carson Elrod (Dimanche)
Don Juan

The Creative Team:

Philip Goodwin (Don Louis), Bhavesh Patel (Sganarelle),
Nick Westrate (Don Juan)
Don Juan

About the Westport Country Playhouse

The Westport Country Playhouse Box Office is open during Performance Days Tuesday through Friday from 12:00 pm until 8:30 pm, Saturday from 11:00 am until 8:30 pm, Sunday from 11:00 am until 3:30 pm, and is closed on Monday. Non-Performance Days, the Box Office is open Tuesday through Friday from 12:00 pm until 6:00 pm and is closed on Monday.

The Westport Country Playhouse named as "Theatre Company of the Year" in December 2013 by The Wall Street Journal, opened in the 1930s in a transformed 1835 cow barn, which has, and continues to attract, a "who’s who" of prominent actors. Looking at the framed posters of past shows that line the lobby walls was like entering an encyclopedia of the arts. A few of the many renowned actors who have appeared on the stage there include Ethyl Barrymore, Dorothy and Lillian Gish, Tallulah Bankhead, Gloria Swanson, Don Ameche, Hume Cronin and Jessica Tandy, Jane Fonda, Danny Aiello, Blythe Danner, Jill Clayburgh, Richard Dreyfus, Whoopi Goldberg, Liza Minnelli, Bernadette Peters, Lynn Redgrave, Gene Wilder, and Westport residents Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman.

"Westport Country Playhouse, a not-for-profit theater, serves as a cultural nexus for patrons, artists and students and is a treasured resource for the State of Connecticut.There are no boundaries to the creative thinking for future seasons or the kinds of audiences and excitement for theater that Westport Country Playhouse can build."

Don Juan performance schedule is Tuesday at 7:00 pm, Wednesday at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm, Thursday and Friday at 8:00 pm, Saturday at 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm, and Sunday at 3:00 pm. Special series feature Taste of Tuesday, LGBT Night OUT, Opening Night, Sunday Symposium, Open Captions, Thursday TalkBack, Together at the Table Family Dinner, Playhouse Happy Hour, and Backstage Pass.

For information on the play or to purchase tickets, please call the box office at +1-203-227-4177 or call the toll-free number at1-888-927-7529 or visit them on the website at www.WestportPlayhouse.org.

Upcoming Performances – 2019 and 2020

Westport Country Playhouse
25 Powers Court
Westport, Connecticut 06880
United States
Box Office: +1-203-227-4177
Toll-Free: +1-888-927-7529
Fax: +1-203-454-3239
Box Office: +1-203-227-4177
Website: www.WestportPlayhouse.org
Instagram: @wcplayhouse
Twitter: @wcplayhouse

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